One of the days that Pflugerville Connally rising senior Michera Moffett was waiting for arrived on Tuesday. After months of speculation, the University Interscholastic League, more commonly known as the UIL, announced its new plans for the 2020 high school fall extracurricular schedule.
"My first reaction to the UIL decision was thank God because it was just such a worry to everyone if we would have a season at all," said Moffett. "I'm thankful that especially us seniors are able to still have that last experience. I'm just excited that we are able to get back on the court and can compete because we have been working so hard in home workouts and staying in touch as a team."
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In a normal year, Moffett and her Pflugerville Connally teammates would be preparing for the season's first practice. But, the UIL understood that COVID-19 hit Texas' largest cities the hardest and pushed back 5A and 6A starts to September 7th. Smaller communities, in comparison, produce the majority of 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A teams and can begin practice on August 3rd.
"We are a totally new team and the quarantine could have held back the bonding piece that you need in volleyball, but I think my coach did a great job in trying to keep all of us in touch and make sure we were checking on each other," said Moffett. "And when we do get back, we need to make sure we are focused and going 100 percent in every practice opportunity. But, still enjoy it and each other every second because it can all be taken away so fast."
Moffett wants to wrap up her high school career on the right note and plans to play an important role for Pflugerville Connally during her senior year.
"My goal is to go out with a bang," said Moffett. "I want people to look at me more as a leader and I want to be the one to guide my team to wins. I want everyone to be able to look at the team and say she's doing her job."
You can expect her to be confident in the fall because she knows she's backed by the same fans that helped her win the 2020 VYPE Austin Preseason Outside Hitter of the Year Poll with 45.05% of the total vote.
"I feel really appreciated and honored to have won that title," said Moffett. "I also felt like all my work that I have been putting in is being recognized. I really want to thank my family because they were a huge reason as to why I was picked."
While volleyball is a key activity in Moffett's life, she also has a future in another.
"Something people don't know about me is that I am a talented artist," said Moffett. "I don't show it off as much, but my mom encourages me to get more into it and display my pieces. I've earned metals in art showcases and I've taken art in school since they required you to draw trees and paint flowers in elementary. I do plan on making that more of a bigger hobby in my life and sell some art, after volleyball of course."
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